Random numbers appearing in text

Random numbers appear in text when I type and NUMLOCK is not on. Help?

I have a few ideas to offer you for solving this problem. Read through what I have to say and you might be surprised as I was when I made my discovery. I doubt very much that it is related to a virus or the NUMLOCK key.

Are the Numbers Random?

If you look through your text and break it down, you will see that the numbers only appear for the letters that you type in the "Qwerty" row. Plus, the numbers that appear with each letter from that row are the ones that are positioned above them. For example, with "W@he3n"

the uppercase "W" produced the @, which is the symbol that you would get if you hit shift and that key.

the letter "h" did not produce a number or symbol because it is not from the Qwerty row.

The letter "e" produced the number 3, which is the number positioned above the 3.

The letter "n" did not produce a number or symbol because it is not from the Qwerty row.

Unfortunately, I think that you are probably going to have to replace the keyboard with a new one. If you are using a laptop, then you are probably going to have to have the keyboard repaired. At any rate, try these suggestions first.

Clean the keyboard thoroughly. Turn it over and gently tap it to remove loose crumbs.

Look for signs of sticky residue in between the keys on the Qwerty row and the keys with the numbers.

Pay attention to the location of your fingertips when typing on the Qwerty row. If you have fake nails, the tips could be hitting the number keys when you are typing.

Check each of the keys on the keyboard to determine whether any of them are stuck. Gently loosen any keys that you find that appear to be stuck out of position.

Use a special key removal tool to take out the keys and clean more thoroughly if you suspect deeper areas of dirt. This task needs to be done carefully. You can use a can of compressed air to clean the area beneath the keys. I do not recommend removing all of the keys at once. Do not remove the space bar.

Borrow another keyboard from elsewhere and see if that has the same problem with the computer that you are using. Even if you have a laptop, you can use a USB keyboard for troubleshooting this issue. If the problem does not occur with a different keyboard, the problem is with the original keyboard.

Try hitting any of the following combinations: "shift and numlock," "function and numlock," "control and numlock."

Use the Device Manager to Check the Status of the Keyboard

I recommend going into the Device Manager and looking to see what the status of the keyboard is. To do so, follow these steps:

Click Start.

Click My Computer.

Click Manage or System Information.

Click Hardware.

Click Device Manager.

Click Keyboards.

Double-click the keyboard that displays in the list - any error messages?

Use the Regional and Language Option to Check the Language Status of the Keyboard

This next task is a stab in the dark, but it doesn't hurt anything to try. I recommend going into the Regional and Language Option and looking to see what the status of the keyboard is. To do so, follow these steps:

Click Start.

Click Settings.

Click Control Panel.

Click Regional and Language Option.

Click Language.

Click Details.

In the dialog box that pops open, make sure that the English/United States has been selected for the keyboard.

Click OK.

I am sorry to say that if none of the above has worked for you, your keyboard probably has a faulty connection. Your remaining choices are to replace it or repair it.